The 2023 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show was held in Houston, Texas, from March 3 to March 6, 2023, at the Marriot Marquis Houston and George R. Brown Convention Center. The event brought together professionals from the building enclosure industry to network, learn, and share knowledge about the latest developments in the field.

The convention kicked off on Friday with two auxiliary seminars, “Use of UAS and Reality Capture Technology in Transforming the Future of Enclosure Assessment” and “Fall Protection for Roof Consultants—Hazards, Solutions, and the Law”. In addition, the RCI-IIBEC Foundation and RCI Foundation Canada Golf Outing took place at the Wildcat Golf Club. Friday also included IIBEC committee meetings throughout the afternoon, and the day concluded with the well-attended IIBEC Opening Reception.

Saturday began with a full slate of educational sessions, starting with “Resilience: What Does that Mean for the Design of Buildings?” by Donald R. Scott, PE, SE, FSEI, FASCE, of PCS Structural Solutions. This session focused on the importance of building codes and standards, community expectations, and climate impacts on building resiliency. This was followed by “Stucco on an Island not So Far, Far Away: Directly Bonded Stucco Failure Investigation” by Stewart Swing, RRO, RWC, RRC, EI, and Vu Nguyen of Terracon, which examined the use of Portland cement stucco and ASTM C926 in building applications.

The RCI Foundation Board meeting also took place on Saturday morning, during which IIBEC chapters presented checks to the foundation. In the afternoon, there were region meetings, and the day was anchored by the Opening Ceremony and Keynote by Seth Mattison, who spoke about the future of work and leadership. The ceremony also featured a video showcasing IIBEC’s 40-year history, highlighting the partnerships that have made the institute a success.

On Sunday, the trade show opened with product demonstrations and receptions hosted by Siplast and Soprema. The event concluded on Monday, with a variety of educational sessions, including “Lighting and Building Enclosure Integration” by Brian Liebeck, PE, LC, LEED AP, of Affiliated Engineers Inc., and “Inspection Techniques for Roofing Systems” by J. David Magarity, F-IIBEC, RRC, PE, of the Roof Consulting Services.

The 2023 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show provided a unique opportunity for building enclosure professionals to come together and share their knowledge and experience. With a focus on education, networking, and professional development, attendees left the event with new insights and strategies to apply to their work in the field.

The Southern Ontario Chapter also received their Platinum Award for 2022!

Upcoming Events:

• April 18 – IIBEC SOC Luncheon Seminar: Creating Reusable Insulation Systems for Roofing & Waterproofing Applications 
• April 26/27 IIBEC QOC Course: Building Enclosure Quality Assurance 
• June 28 – IIBEC SOC Golf Tournament

2023 CSC Building Expo

IIBEC Southern Ontario Chapter attended the CSC Building Expo on March 1st, 2023 at the Metro Convention Centre. The IIBEC SOC booth was well represented by board members Adam Gotfraind (President), John Mills (Industry Committee Chair) and Meagan Kikuta (Secretary).

The tradeshow was attended by over 200 industry professionals in the design, specification, and engineering sectors and in collaboration with another industry association (Construction Specifications Canada).

Upcoming Events:

2nd Annual Diversity and Inclusion Building Sciences Forum 

IIBEC Southern Ontario Chapter held its 2nd Annual Diversity and Inclusion Building Sciences Forum on February 23rd, 2023 at the Ontario Science Centre.

Over 80 attendees braved the storm to attend the half-day forum which aimed to bring awareness and provide resources to empower all members of society to join the building and construction sector. The forum special guests included the Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, as well as the Hon. Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

The forum consisted of a panel of industry experts including: 

• Mila Aleksic, Professor from George Brown College
• Sarah Gray, Senior Building Science Specialist from RDH Building Science
• Lori O’Malley, Building Envelope Specialist from PCL Construction, and
• Mary Smith, Senior Executive Vice-President of Lexsuco.

The panel was moderated by Jennifer Hogan, Project Principal from Pretium Engineering and our Keynote Speaker was Marzieh Riahinezhad, Research Officer from the National Research Council of Canada. 

Two student bursaries were presented to Polina Loukianenkov and Dagmawit Habtom.

Special Thanks to our Event Sponsors and to TCA for all their assistance with organizing the event.

• Arcat
• Artistic Skylight Domes
• Capo Sgro LLP
• CAWIC
• Dean Chandler Roofing Limited
• Great Northern Insulation
• IKO Commercial
• Indusite Realty Corporation
• ITW Construction Products
• Lexsuco Corporation
• Nextgen Professional
• Northern Facades
• Polymershapes
• RBC
• Soprema
• Tremco Roofing
• WE Build A Dream
• Wilson Chartered Professional Accountants 

Upcoming Events:

2023 IIBEC Annual General Meeting

IIBEC Southern Ontario Chapter held its Annual General Meeting on Friday February 10th, 2023 at the Thornhill Club in Thornhill Ontario. The meeting was attended by 45 people and chaired by President Kevin Voorberg. 

The financial reports for 2022 were presented by Meagan Kikuta. The following 2022 committee reports were presented and discussed:

• Region VII – Jennifer Hogan
• Marketing – Jordan Swail (Presented by Kevin on behalf of Jordan)
• Education – Blair Gamracy
• Membership – Lora Bourck-Ferrazzo
• Social – Jay Campbell
• Maritime Branch Report – Jamie Slipp (Presented by Kevin on behalf of Jamie)
• Technical – Rick Shaw (Presented by Kevin on behalf of Rick)
• Advocacy – Shawn Irani
• Industry – John Mills
• Strategic Plan – Allen Lyte (Presented by Kevin on behalf of Allen)

Kevin thanked the 2022 Board of Directors for volunteering their time and support, and thanked chapter staff members Christine Kebezes and Betty Quan for their hard work in 2022. 

The Southern Ontario Chapter elected the following members to serve on the 2023 Board of Directors: 

• Adam Gotfraind
• Jake Skinner
• Meagan Kikuta
• Kevin Voorberg 
• Blair Gamracy
• Jordan Swail
• Gary Hamilton
• Jay Campbell
• Lora Bourck
• Shawn Irani
• John Mills
• Richard Shaw
• Jamie Slipp
• Paul Johannesson
• Stephanie Robinson as Region IIV Director

A call was made for any volunteers to join the committees. Please reach out to any of the board members, Christine or Betty if you wish to join an IIBEC SOC Committee.

Awards 

Vice President Adam Gotfraind announced that the IIBEC Southern Ontario Chapter achieved the Platinum Chapter Status in 2022.

The following SOC Chapter awards were presented:

• The President Recognition Award was presented to Kevin Voorberg
• The Outgoing Director Award was presented to Allen Lyte
• The Outstanding Committee Chair Award was presented to Blair Gamracy
• The Outstanding Sponsor Awards was presented to Atlas-Apex Roofing
• The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Marc Allaire
• New Corporate Sponsor Plaque was presented to Peter Difazio from Nortex Roofing

Following the AGM, Scott Carpenter from Nudura presented on an Overview of Insulated Concrete Forms and included an introduction to ICF’s, their benefits, construction process, application options, and code and sustainability requirements. 

The meeting wrapped up with Lunch and then a Curling Social which was attended by 18 members.

Upcoming Events:

IIBEC SOC 2022 Christmas Luncheon

On December 8th, the Southern Ontario Chapter of IIBEC hosted their annual Christmas Luncheon at the Bellagio Boutique Event Venue in Vaughan.

Registration and cocktails started off the event along with casino gaming tables where guests could win tickets for the raffle and prize giveaway at the end of the event. 

Lunch was then served and the Christmas Luncheon was presented by Jay Campbell of Dean Chandler Roofing and Adam Gotfraind of IKO Industries.

We would like to thank everyone who attended the event and those who helped make this event happen. A special thank you to the following sponsors: 

• Artistic Skylights
• Dean Chandler Roofing
• Holcim Elevate
• IKO Industries
• Lexsuco Corporation
• MJ Building Envelope Solutions
• Sika Canada
• Siplast
• Situra
• Soprema 
• Tri-Tech Pinnacle

The Chapter also accepted donations of non-perishable items for a local food drive.

Lora Ferrazzo-Bourck, Managing Partner at Artistic Skylights, and the Chapter’s Membership  Director, spoke about diversity and inclusion. She encouraged consultants, contractors, and manufacturers of our industry to attend the second Annual Women & Students Building Science Forum which will be held on Thursday February 23rd, 2023 from 9:30am to 1:30pm at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. 

We would also like to remind our members of the following upcoming events in 2023:

• February 10th Annual General Meeting and Curling Social Event, Thornhill Golf Club
• February 23rd Women and Students Building Science Forum, Ontario Science Centre
• April 4th & 5th ROOFTech, International Centre
• March 2nd – 6th IIBEC Convention, Houston Texas